“Enemies”

The term "indie" gets spread around like bad mashed potatoes, partly because no one knows what it is anymore in a world where Animal Collective terrorizes Billboard. "Emo" was tossed around like a hot potato that nobody wanted (and if they did, nobody wanted them). But with "Shitgaze"... people don't seem to have much of a beef. This is probably because the name is funny as hell, but I like to imagine the musicians are too drugged out on their own trip to care. It's not like I've asked them (or tested their urine), but Kiwi expatriates turned Portland rec-room pounders the Mint Chicks probably fall into this second category. They seem pretty chill.

So chill in fact that the penultimate track from the glossy-glaze trio's new Screens full-length even welcomes the uninvited: "Listen closely to your enemies/ They know what's best for you/ They'll find a place for you." As disjointed phrases on paper, this could be hardline paranoia from Thom Yorke's notebook (and the minimal, color-splashed video does evoke the "House of Cards" clip). Rather than their usual basement synth-racket though, "Enemies" is stripped and sedate, riding a Portland budget motorik (the album was mostly recorded in just four days with a "toy drum kit") and suggesting a Black Moth Super Rainbow with Wavves at the helm. "They'll find a place for you," they repeat, behind peels of feedback and vocoder, and it's still not a threat. In fact, they may let their foes crash on the couch.